Let me start by apologizing for the long delay between posts to this blog. I
had a medial issue that required major surgery. I was afraid of what I would
write while I was on pain killers! All is well now and I am recovering nicely.
This past weekend, I saw a couple of colors of Red Heart's Sashay yarn on clearance at my local Walmart. I am not usually a fan of novelty yarns (eyelash, chenille, ribbon, etc.) but the price was right ($2.00 per skein) so I decided to take a chance. I liked that one skein would make a ruffled scarf and the instructions were on the label.
I purchased the color Diamonds which is a variegated yarn with white, mid-grey and charcoal grey with a silver metallic thread running throughout. The yarn is a ribbon type with a thick edge on one side and a fish-net stocking texture for the rest of the width. All stitching is done in the top part of the mesh (on the right side of the yarn in the picture below), NOT on the thick side. The yarn comes off the skein compressed together. Before starting stitching, I suggest that you unwind the yarn, spread it out and wind it so it lies flat. Investing the time (10 to 15 minutes) to prepare the skein makes the stitching much more pleasant.
The pattern calls for a size 9 needle and that's what I used for my scarf. Gauge is not important for the pattern. For a long scarf, the pattern says to cast on six stitches but I used only five stitches and was happy with the diameter of the ruffle.
Stitching with Sashay is tricky. The stitches are worked in alternating mesh squares. The yarn is very slick and the mesh holes are large so it is very easy for stitches to side off the needles. If you drop a stitch, it is absolutely impossible to pick up the stich and work up to the current row. I strongly suggest that you count your stitches at the end of each row so you will immediately know if you dropped a stich. The stitching is also much slower than traditional yarns but the short rows and easy stitch (garter stitch) balance out the pace. It is possible to complete the scarf in an evening or two which makes it a nice, quick project.
The first few rows of the scarf don't look like much but have faith. The scarf will soon take on a nice ruffled look that is very attractive. Here id s picture of my scarf. The colors didn't photograph true to the actual shades but I am very pleased with the results. The silky yarn gives a luxurious feel to the scarf. Although this is a very easy project from a stich standpoint, the texture of the yarn and unique structure make it challenging to work with. I recommend this yarn for intermediate to experienced knitters. Would I purchase this yarn again? Yes!
Below are a couple of videos I watched on You Tube before starting this project. Watching them really helped me.
